Material feed signal system



INVENTORS R. C. KIVLEY CA. WINDSOR LLXQP 3 Sheets-Sheet l R. C. KIVLEY ET AL MATERIAL FEED SIGNAL SYSTEM Feb. 26, 1952 Filed Feb. 4, 1950 ATTORNEY Feb. 26, 1952 Q K|V| EY ET AL 2,586,960

MATERIAL FEED SIGNAL SYSTEM Filed Feb. 4, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lluu mll 43/ 1 lliHl. H K

/N|/ENTOR$ R. c. K/l/L EV 2 c. A. WINDSOR .BVMM

Arro RA/Ev Feb. 26, 1952 R c, KlVLEY ET AL 2,586,960

MATERIAL FEED SIGNAL SYSTEM Filed Feb. 4, 1950 3 SheetsSheet 3 INVENTORS R. C. K/VLEY FIG. 3

ArrohA/Ey v By M Patented Feb. 26, 1952 MATERIAL"FEED SIGNAL SYSTEM Ray-C;,Kiyley,;;Kenmore, and-Charles'A. -Windsor,

Buffalo N. ,Y., assignors viouWestern Electric- Companyi; Incorporated corporationnf New .York

, New York, N. .Y.,,a

Application February4, 1950,"Serial N 142,384

4 Claimsa (Cl. 177-311) This inye-nticn relates :to material controlling means; and ,imore particularly to 7 a; controltior wires travelling through an enamelling machine;

During the operation or -wire enamelling .inas. chines,,where thepaths of the wires are closely;

positioned, the adjacent enamel coatings onrthe. wires sometimes. adhere toeach. other and create disturbances; suchas the pulling ,of, wiping dies; free of their retaining elementson:subsequent,

passes oigthe .zWil'CS through the maehine- In some instanceagthe. Wires, through thei-r moatbecome so firmlyrat ached to each other that :theY' 'Wi'11InQl'/. be. sepa defl'omzeaeh;ot er initheir, conventional.travehthrough theimac in and unless the operator ;is;;warned Qf, th Se CO11:-- ditionssdamagesrsmay result to ,the wires, or to parts. f;- the 'machine. i

An object-sci thepresent inKBntlQIlfiSjQ provide a 30011131101. for, .-;1ongi tudinally:;.adyancin strand WhlChQ'i. will individually: p rate; the; s rano whenever; possible andiwilloperatea signalivhe the separation of the strands :.by;thiS-,;- means 18;;

not possible;

With thiswand ,other; o'bj ectsin, View, the dill/311?;

tion, comprises a strand control for {use gin" a ma-:

chine 2, wherein the strands, are caused .:,to traveh in given ;paths,,closely adjacent each other; the

control comprising a normally A positioned-g ele-;

ment-v having fingers extending betwcenuv th strands to separate the strands from eachzotheia and movable by the-..strandsishould they fail to separateranda signalcoperated by the movement of the fingers, to indicate the presence of unseparated strands More :specifically,-- the control comprises a comb pivotally supported andnoiw mally held in a given position with theiteeth-ctthe comb positionedwbetweenthe,wlresto normally separate the wires from each other. A

switchefor an audible signalispositioned :toabe operatediiby movement of .the; {comb out, 1 ofcits normal. position. 7

Other objects andadvantages will; be apparent; from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a wire enamelling machine embodying the control mechanism;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the control mechanism shown in solid lines in its normal position and in dotted lines in its actuated position; and

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 2, and taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to ,the drawings, attention; ;is first directed to Fig. 1 which illustrates a,wire=:.

enamelling machine indicated generally at,v HI which receives strands. or, wiresll from-supply reels,;l2, passing around sheaves l4 and, Hand The. j

upwardlygthrough enamel applicators l6.

enamel applicators are oftheconventional type:

wherein the Wires receive a coating of= ;enainel,;, after which the wires. travel through "theirpdies,

El and baking chamber 18... The wires'i-con-r, tinuing from V-the baking chamber-i travel over sheaves l9 and return as indicated at; 20 for.:,an;;-;

additional trip through the vapplicator l'o,-*the.irdies 3!! and "the baking chamber I 8... Aftercthen final, trip through the machine, the w-ires,: .eupon;,; leaving the sheaves l9, travelto theconstant. speed-capstaniunit, 22 wherethe 'capstans 23 :and 2%, .pull' the .wires, causing their travel through ,the.--

machine, The --wires upon-i leaving; the ;;unit;22.,

are guided onto their;indi.vidual. takeup, reels; 2 5' ,by distributors 25 Figal is-ush'ownainrdetail in Figs; 2 and 13.

mechanism 28 is supportectby a horizontalxl beamtil of the machine 1&3 and includes :a downwardly projecting armtl' fromrthe-I bean r to:- A comb "33 extends:

support a pivot or :shaft 32. laterally of the machine and issupportedbythe pivot :32 :in 5,3, position-whereby:-equallyispaced the.;,combrbeing:acliacentthe-wfingers- 34 to main tain. the; :comb'cin .ilJSj-f normals positionzzwith 1-. its

fingers :between'the :paths of :the; wires.

mounted, on the shaft, :32, includes. a ,-plunger. 4 I;

normally spaced from the comb 33 but: positioned to be actuated thereby when the comb is moved out of its normal position. The arm 39 with the support 40 and the switch 38 are normally held in the positions shown in solid lines and against an adjustable stop 43 by a spring 44, the spring permitting movement of its associated structure into the broken line position when it is not possible for the comb to separate the adhering strands or wires.

The switch 38 is of the normally open type closed by the actuation of the plunger 4| to complete a circuit for an audible signal 46 mounted "fingers; 34' :.of::the -:comb1:will",extend between the normal paths, oft-the wires-ml l. .ito:maintainerthezv: wires inrtheir:eircnerpathsandirtotztendtorsep ratethemrshquld; theyiadhere-otq eachgotherc; A spring pressed plungcrtt. carriedby-the arm::3 I;

T 'heldinward-ly :byzitsgspringily :to ;hold the comb in:thegxnormali;positionn.the greatestriweight f" 3 at a convenient position on the machine to signal the operator when certain of the wires adhere to each other and cannot be separated by the comb. The circuit for the signal 46 may be traced from line 50 through the switch 38, the audible signal 46 to line l5.

Considering now the operation of the machine I!) with the control mechanism embodied therein, it will be apparent that during the normal operation of the machine, the strands or wires l I may be advanced continuously from their supply reels I2, through the applicators l6, and wiping dies I1 and the baking chamber 18. The applicator, wiping and baking steps are repeated, after which the wires are advanced through the capstan unit 22 and the distributors to their takeup reels 25. During this travel of the numerous wires, they may adhere to each other and in most instances, the fingers 34 of the comb 33 would be effective in separating the wires. However, if any two or more of the wires should be so firmly connected that the comb could not separate them, these wires in their vertical travel from the chamber l8 will engage the fingers 34'and thus move the comb 33 about its pivot or shaft 32. This movement of the comb will first cause operation of the switch 38 through the engagement of the plunger 4|, operating the signal 46 to indicate to the operator the condition existing whereby the operator may manually separate the wires before they repeat their travel through the machine I!) and cause disturbance in the attempt to advance these wires through their applicators I6 and dies 11. The spring 43 will allow the comb and switch supporting mechanism to be moved out of the path of the connected portions of the wires and as soon as this portion moves beyond the comb, the spring 43 will return the control mechanism to its normal position again positioning the fingers 34 between their respective wires.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Nu-

merous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine wherein strands normally move in closely spaced parallel paths and adjacent strands may adhere to each other, a comb normally positioned with its teeth extending between the paths of the strands for separating the strands, an energizable signal, a pivot spaced from the paths of the strands to support the comb for movement out'of its normal position beyond the said paths by inseparable strands whereby the inseparable strands may travel beyond the comb without being broken thereby, and means operable by movement of the comb out of its normal position to energize the signal.

2. In a machine wherein strands normally move in closely spaced parallel paths and adjacent strands may adhere to each other, a control mechanism including a comb normally positioned with its teeth extending between the paths of the strands for separating the strands, an energizable signal, a pivot spaced from the paths of the strands to support the comb for movement out of its normal position beyond the said paths by inseparable strands whereby the inseparable strands may travel beyond the comb without being broken thereby, and a switch operable by movement of the comb out of its normal position to energize the signal.

3. In a machine wherein strands normally move in closely spaced parallel paths and adjacent strands may adhere to each other, a control mechanism including a comb normally positioned with its teeth extending between the paths of the strands for separating the strands, an energizable signal, a pivot spaced from the paths of the strands to support the comb for movement out of its normal position beyond the said paths by inseparable strands whereby the inseparable strands may travel beyond the comb without being broken thereby, a switch operable by movement of the comb out of its normal position to energize the signal, a movable support for the switch, and variable means to normally locate the support with the switch a selected variable distance from the comb.

4. In a machine wherein strands normally move in closely spaced parallel paths and adjacent strands may adhere to each other, a control mechanism including a comb normally positioned with its teeth extending between the paths of the strands for separating the strands, an energizable signal, a pivot spaced from the paths of the strands to support the comb for movement out of its normal position beyond the said paths by inseparable strands whereby the inseparable strands may travel beyond the comb without being broken thereby, a switch operable by movement of the comb out of its normal position to energize the signal, a movable support for the switch, variable means to normally locate the support with the switch a selected variable distance from the comb, and yielding means normally holding the switch support and the switch relative to the comb and to return the support with the switch and the comb to their normal positions.

RAY C. KIVLEY. CHARLES A. WINDSOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 386,561 Sawyer July 24, 1888 642,457 Ivey Jan. 30, 1900 2,434,406 Herath et a1. Jan. 13, 1948 

